Former Delaware Senate candidate Christine O’Donnell is usually unashamed about flagrantly misusing the words Marxist, communist and socialist. At times, it can seem as if she uses them interchangeably to describe just about anything the Obama administration does.

But not around CNN’s Soledad O’Brien. Not anymore, anyway.

O’Donnell sat across from O’Brien on Friday morning and suggested that the Republican Party represents “capitalism” and the Democratic Party represents “collectivism.”

“So, it sounds like you’re calling the administration… Collectivism is another word for communism, right?” O’Brien asked.

“Coming from the president’s own mouth are some of these statements,” O’Donnell said. “When he says redistribute the wealth. This is what’s turning off so many independent voters and so many common sense Democrats when they’re taking a closer look at what the two candidates have to offer. You don’t need stats or professional economists to tell you that gas prices have doubled under this administration, grocery prices have risen.”

O’Brien stopped her there. “And at the same time the administration has put a lot of money into the private sector,” she said. “So, if you’re headed toward communism, you would not be doing that. You would be taking over the… My mother’s Cuban, right? I could talk a lot about communism to you. I know a lot about it.”

“That is not nationalizing,” O’Brien said. “It’s not.” But the two still didn’t see eye-to-eye.

In their last interview just over a week ago, O’Brien repeatedly challenged O’Donnell to define the word “Marxist,” saying: “You kind of throw the words socialist and Marxist around that are not necessarily, I think, anchored in definitions of socialism and Marxism. So give me the definition.” O’Donnell didn’t bother to answer the question.

About the Author

Stephen C. Webster is the senior editor of Raw Story, and is based out of Austin, Texas. He previously worked as the associate editor of The Lone Star Iconoclast in Crawford, Texas, where he covered state politics and the peace movement’s resurgence at the start of the Iraq war. Webster has also contributed to publications such as True/Slant, Austin Monthly, The Dallas Business Journal, The Dallas Morning News, Fort Worth Weekly, The News Connection and others. Follow him on Twitter at @StephenCWebster.